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I think there are a couple things that account for the 19% difference regarding use of violence to block offensive speech.

The two surveys ask different questions. The question in the Villasenor study states, “A student group opposed to the speaker uses violence to prevent the speaker from speaking. Do you agree or disagree that the student group’s actions are acceptable?” The FIRE study asks, “If a guest speaker with ideas and opinions I strongly disagree with were invited to my college campus, I might: (and one answer is) Use violent or disruptive actions to prevent the event from occurring.” One asks what is okay for other students to do, and one asks what the student would personally do. Also the FIRE study includes “disruptive actions” with violence. What are disruptive actions?

The Villasenor study doesn’t seem to be very reliable since it wasn’t random and “was given to an opt-in online panel of people who identified as current college students.” The FIRE study was also given to an opt in research panel, and students were given some type of incentive to answer the questions. I’m not a statistician so I question the reliability of both studies for several reasons. Coming to any type of conclusion as to what college students think would seem to be more politically driven than anything else.